Cold in the Darkness
by HeartlessAlchemyst
Summary: Elsa had spent her whole life afraid of what she could do to someone if her powers where to get out of hand. Tonight, she meets a boy who mastered everything she struggles with. But he sees her as nothing but an unpleasant reminder of what he used to be. Will she break free of her darkness? Will he even let that happen?
1. Worthless

The snow glows white on the mountains tonight. But there is darkness in the air. Queen Elsa flees from her own kingdom, leaving an expanding winter storm in her wake. The encroaching blizzard belighs the Heartless invasion. Elsa makes her way through the forest after being approached by a boy, a duck and a dog. That boy tried to help her, but she could tell he didn't understand her plight. As she trekked up the mountain, she stopped inside a cave to rest. Alone with her thoughts; she pondered aloud who that young boy was.

"I can't go back. I know he probably means well, but he has no idea." Suddenly, she heard a similar sounding boy's voice. "I know, right. He's always gotta try to 'fix' everything. It's annoying." Elsa looked around the cave to find the boy in question dressed in a black coat and wearing a mask, sitting near the back of the cave as if he was waiting for her. She backed away on reflex. "Who are you?" He used Dark Firaga on the ground in front of him to make a campfire. "Me? Well, I'm just like you. ...Worthless."

She scowled at him. "...Where do you get off saying that to me?" He leans over his fire casually. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were in the mood for unwarranted self deprecation. It's hard to take you seriously with that pity medal you wear around your neck so flagrantly." She looks appalled, but doesn't have a response. "I-I...you...that's not...ugh." She sighs in defeat. "...You didn't answer my question though." He chuckled. "But I did, actually. My name means 'Worthless'. Buuuut...I guess people are most comfortable calling me Vanitas."

She cautiously approaches the fire. "Why are you here? Are you trying to get me to go home too?" He pokes the fire with his Keyblade and unleashes his sarcasm. "Wow. It's always gotta be about YOU. Did you ever stop to consider that maybe I came to this frozen wasteland for the views and to admire the…'beauty' of nature?" He knocks some embers at her dress as she flinches. "...Idiot. I couldn't care less about your family squabbles or your kingdom's hierarchy. What I do care about is you making a mess of our plan with The Seven Hearts."

She freezes the fire in anger as she stands over him. "I don't know who you think you are. But you don't know me! So, don't act like you can belittle me like this!" He calmly stands up and removes his helmet to look her in the eye. "Stop me if this sounds familiar. You were born with a power you don't want; the nature of which makes it difficult to make friends or even be around your sibling. Your emotions make your power difficult to control...especially fear, pain and anger. Everyone rejects you because of it. And to top it all off; you gave up on trying to make people understand and are trying to run away from who you are."

She stares at him; speechless as he suddenly gets a very vicious tone under his breath and gets right up in her face. "...Don't think you're special because you've been SUFFERING!" He whispers in her ear. "...You don't know the meaning of the word." He steps back and sits down again to restart the fire. Elsa didn't know what to say. He just waved her off. "Go on. You just keep running. Someone will always be there to bring you back...whether you like it or not." She looks toward the cave exit as she considers just leaving.

As she slowly walks back outside, she turns back to Vanitas. "I'm sorry. Can I ask you a question?" He doesn't even lift his head to look at her. "You CAN. Doesn't mean I'm going to answer it." She mulls over the words a bit. "How did YOU just let it go?" He paused. "...I didn't. I couldn't. I'll never let it go. These feelings...this life I've been settled with...it's going to stay with me...forever. The difference between you and me is that I've accepted it and… I just. Don't. Care. Anymore."

She does a 180 and walks back to him and leans over to him. "...Teach me!" He's taken aback by her request. "W-what?" She gets on her knees. "Teach me how to be like you!" He couldn't contain his laughter as he nearly falls to floor. "BWAHAHAHA! Are you serious?!" She looks him in eyes as she begs. "...Dead serious." His smile slowly disappears as he realizes how badly she wants his help. "...Fine. But you have do everything I say." She nods furiously. "That means when I say to do something; I want it done right then and there!" She continues to nod.

He sighs and starts to leave the cave as she follows behind him, leaving the fire going. Elsa looks back at the fire. "Does the cold bother you?" He breathes into his hands. "No. It reminds me that I can feel cold. And by extension...I can feel warmth. In the same way; pain reminds you that things can be better. Being content breeds weakness, suffering opens the door for salvation." Elsa begins to kick herself mentally for not bringing something to take notes with. "Wow. Where did you learn that?" He almost wants to bite his own tongue for giving him the credit, but… "...My Master." Vanitas notices Sora and company riding down the mountain on a shield as he changes direction to avoid being seen. "First lesson is free, Ice Queen."

 ***This is sort of a sequel to Mysterious Onyx. I guess like I'm making my own Cinematic Universe? ...Written Universe? Whatever.***


	2. Hope

Vanitas leads Elsa through some basic exercises as she creates a makeshift Keyblade out of ice to imitate his movements. "How exactly does swinging around a sword help me control my emotions?" As she turned to question him, she gets pelted in the face by a snowball. "For starters, it's not the swinging that makes you stronger; it's the act of moving with the intent to kill. And secondly, I was kinda hoping it'd be an easy way to get you shut up for a bit while I think of an actual...curriculum ...so to speak."

Elsa wipes the snow off her face in frustration. "What?! You mean you don't actually know what you're doing?! Why don't you just teach me the same way your Master taught you?" Vanitas belts out a haughty laugh. "HAHAHA! If I were to teach you like HE did...that snowball would've been a ROCK...and there would've been plenty more where those came from!" Elsa slouches her shoulders in anticipation of him making good on that threat. "...Your Master sounds like a real pleasure to be around." Her voice dripping of sarcasm, which Vanitas got a kick out of.

"Let's start with something simple and clean. Out of all the times your power got out of hand; which emotion specifically elicited the strongest response from your powers?" She started thinking back to all of the many times she lost control, but the most recent time was clearly the best example. "...Fear." He sat down cross legged in front of, creating a splash of snow as he plopped down. "Fear of what exactly?" She knelt down to his level and sat more elegantly. "I don't know. I guess...fear of someone finding out my secret." Vanitas looked visibly angry. An impressive feat when you can't see his face. "Really? ...Ugh. Okay. We're gonna unpack that one piece at a time. First of all…that is a fear YOU manufactured. You fear yourself being laid bare for all to see. You fear intimacy? Transparency? I have secrets, but I don't fear them getting out."

She leaned in expecting to hear one of his secrets. "...I'm...I'm not gonna tell you any of them!" He gets defensive and she shrugs in disappointment as he continues. "Anyway; the second part. I don't know if you noticed, but….NOW THEY KNOW." He pulls her head in as he tries to physically get those words into it. "Secret is out. Nothing left to hide. Nothing left to fear. It's that simple. The worst part's over. Anything beyond this is something you could've prevented." She is taken aback by how much sense he was making. As if shedding a light to reveal that a monster she had feared was in fact a beautiful bird all along.

She was overcome with a sheer joy that could only come from an epiphany that changes your whole outlook on life. She expresses it in the only way she knew how...and glomped onto Vanitas with a big hug. He did not speak. He did not struggle. All he did was tremble. With rage? Fear? Joy? You couldn't really tell. But he was certainly reacting strangely to Elsa's advances on him. But the embrace was cut short by another voice. "Aw. How cute. Should I come back later?" Elsa released Vanitas as he stood up and faced the onlooker. "What do you want, Larxene?"

Larxene approaches with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. "The Master has a new mission for you. Did you even finish the one he gave you earlier before you decided to come to this world and play with the princess?" Elsa wanted to correct her, but Vanitas was too quick on the rebuttal. "She's a queen, actually. There IS a difference. Just like I'm sure there's a difference between you and a witch….I just can't think of any yet. I'll keep you posted though and let you know if I think of any."

She scowled at him with a venomous stare as vein became visible on her forehead. Vanitas looked back at Elsa motioned her to leave them. "Go. Practice." Elsa stood up to leave, but stopped before leaving sight. "...Will you be back?" She got no response as he didn't even turn his head to acknowledge her. She just left. Larxene starts pacing around Vanitas as he stands motionless. "Well, look at you. Making friends? What timeline are we living in, right?!" The impatient Vanitas puts his foot out in front of him to stop her pacing. "Did you have a mission for me, or not? The less I have to listen to your voice, the better. My ears can only take so much before they start bleeding."

She puts her index finger up to his chin and gets in his face. "There's a world where monsters have access to doors leading to the rooms of children. The Master wants you to take over that factory and use your Unversed to scare the bejeezus out of every kid you can and collect the screams and sadness into the special containers they have there. And while you're at it; how about you finish the job you were supposed to do? You've been hanging around the wrong QUEEN." As they finish bickering at each other, they notice a castle of ice rising further up the mountain. Vanitas chuckles in satisfaction. "I'm sure ALL girls seem like queens compared to you."

Vanitas enters a dark corridor and leaves Larxene to handle Sora and friends. He comes out the other end at Disney Castle. He enters the library to find Queen Minnie talking to Daisy. "Hello, ladies." Daisy freaks out as Minnie remains calm as if she was expecting this. "Daisy. Please go and make sure everyone else in the castle is all right. If he's here; then his Unversed can't be far behind." Daisy protested leaving the Queen, but soon buckled under the pressure. "Y-yes, your Majesty!" She hugged the wall as she circled around Vanitas as he just glared at her the whole time until she passed him and ran out the doors.

Minnie breathed slowly as she tried to maintain her composure. "If people see you coming to me like this, they might get the wrong idea." Vanitas removed his helmet now that they were alone. "I'd be shocked if they got the RIGHT idea." Minnie approached cautiously. "Why are you back so soon? We talked about you bettering yourself through finding someone to confide in...someone you could spend time with. Did you already give up?"

She stopped walking forward as soon as he started to do the same. "I've been giving some thought to that. I've decided that it's a waste of time. And that I should just destroy you like Xehanort wanted from the beginning. I'm done humoring you." She starts stepping back for every step he took towards her. "You can't give up like this! I gave you advice because I really believed you could turn yourself around. You just have to hold onto HOPE." His eyes widen as he lunges for her neck and pins her against the bookshelf behind her.

"HOPE?! Are you kidding me?! What is it with you people and your obsession with hope, friendship, and love? What have those things ever done for me?! Nothing! Why should I care! Why should I TRY!" She struggles to respond with his hand on her windpipe. "Because...you want to be your own person...not another Xehanort." Meanwhile, outside in the hallway Daisy returns with guards to find Queen Minnie get thrown through the library doors and rolling across the floor. "Queen Minnie!" Vanitas slowly follows her as an intimidating dark aura surrounds him and his voice rumbles like thunder.

"Do. I. Look. Like. A. Xehanort. ...TO YOU?!" Daisy and the guard's bodies refuse to approach out of fear. "I was born into this world with everything decided for me! I am a great many things. The _x_ -blade, a Xehanort vessel, a being of pure Darkness. But 'Myself' was not one of them." Minnie picks herself up off the ground as he towers over her like predator about to strike. "There was only ONE. ONE choice I made in my entire life. ONE thing that I wanted. And do you know what the response was from Xehanort, from my other half, from my own darkness...from HER?! … 'NO.' The one thing that could've made me…'ME' and I was denied even that."

Minnie looked at him with a mixture of fear and confusion as she tried to make sense of what he was talking about. "...Her?" He summoned his Keyblade and put his foot on the Queen's head. "You asked me if I gave up?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out and incomplete red Wayfinder charm. "...Well, not at first. I HAD hope in the beginning. That hope died a long time ago." Minnie notices the charm looks identical in design and structure to the one's Aqua made. Vanitas' aura begins to dissipate.

"What does hope give...but disappointment. What does friendship teach...but lies and mistrust. What does love bring...but PAIN!" He crushes the Wayfinder in his palm as the broken glass falls on Minnie's face. He swiftly sends his hand down and pulls Minnie up to her feet. "...So yes...I have given up." His voice softens as the rage leaves him. The crumbled frame of the Wayfinder falls to the floor. "The world has resigned me to one role and that's all I'll ever be…." He puts his helmet back on as he turns to leave to a newly created dark corridor. "...Worthless."


	3. MONSTER

Elsa continues to practice controlling her powers as makes a duplicate of Vanitas' Keyblade out of ice. She notices the evil looking eye in the design and feels a somewhat unsettling gaze upon her. "Even the fake makes me feel uneasy. I can't imagine how strong that feeling is on the real one. To have that eye on you." Larxene sneaks up on her. "You get used to it. By the way...what did he tell you? Did he share anything with you?" Elsa shrugs. "You mean other than his sarcastic pessimism and passive aggressive insults?" Larxene scoffs and leaves her without a farewell.

Meanwhile, in the world of Monstropolis; Vanitas uses the monster, Randall to operate the scare floor for his Unversed's 'Nightmare Raid' on the children of all the worlds. He already encountered Sora and friends and has avoided getting into direct conflict with him at the command of Xehanort, so he's been using Randall to make runs to the scare floor and collect the screams and sadness of the children. But this time he returns with more than a few canisters.

"Randall...what is that?" Randall pulls out a child from the crook of one arm. "It's Boo. The kid that Sullivan and Wazowski were protecting." Vanitas approaches with a somewhat intimidating aura around him. "I can see that! But why is she HERE?!" Randall tries to explain himself in fear. "Uh...well...we can use her as a hostage or...siphon some screams out of her. You're pretty good at inflicting pain, right? You can- GACK!" Vanitas starts strangling Randall as he drops Boo to the floor and flails around in an attempt to get free.

"You idiot! I can't scare her or inflict pain on her! She might be one of the new Seven Hearts we need! If I corrupt her, than what good is she to us?! She needs to be protected, so PUT HER BACK!" He chucks the purple lizard across the room into a wall as he gasps and wheezes for air. "If I go back now; the CDA will catch me with the kid. Then what?" Vanitas grumbles and growls at him. "Fine. Just go and keep doing your job, moron. I'll...ugh...look after the kid. But if you screw up like this ONE more time...I'll show you what a real monster looks like." Randall turns invisible and quickly scurries off.

After an awkward stare down between him and the girl, he goes to the corner of his dark secluded room and sits in silence. She eventually shuffles her way to him and starts curiously examining his mask until she realizes it's reflective and starts making faces at him like he was a mirror. "...Don't you know better than to provoke a monster?" She continues to mess with his mask by breathing on it and drawing a smiley face with her finger. She climbs all over him as he tries to keep her off until he inevitably reaches his breaking point.

Annoyed by her antics; he shoves her off of his shoulder onto the floor. He realizes too late that he may have been a bit to rough on her as she suddenly starts screaming and crying, causing the entire section of the factory to overload with power and all the lights in the area to go out. Her crying did not stop and Vanitas knew that if he didn't do something, he would be found. "Hey! Shut up! Stop crying! I didn't push you THAT hard." He yells at her as he picked her up and shook her around to get her attention.

He finally gets an idea. He pulls off his mask and plops it over her head. It's clearly too big for her, but she quiets down anyways. He puts her down as she starts aimlessly wandering around and laughing with the mask on her head. "Good. Now play with that and leave me alone." After several minutes of her playing, she gets bored of the mask and takes it off to look at Vanitas only for her gasp and run over to him as she saw his face.

"Hey! I said no! I'm not a jungle gym. What is your obsession with me anyways?" He extends his arm to keep her away as she reaches for him and manages to formulate the only thing that has resembled normal words other than that name she calls Sullivan. "Big Brother!" Her words caught him off guard as she managed to slip through his defenses and hug him; leaving Vanitas to contemplate what she meant. "...W-what? I'm not...Ugh. Why can't you just be scared of me like everyone else?"

After collecting hundreds of thousands of canisters filled with screams, Vanitas began to wonder if this was enough. His question was soon answered by the arrival of another member of the Organization. It was Marluxia. The pink haired man took note of Vanitas and his current company. "...Did I miss something? Why are you holding the Princess candidate like that?" Vanitas quickly rises to his feet and slide Boo across the floor like a hockey puck; though she seems to be enjoying it. "Weeeeee!" Ignoring the child's glee; Marluxia continues to prod Vanitas for an answer. "You were not supposed to take her yet. What were you doing?"

Vanitas came up with an excuse. "Sora and his friends lost her. I didn't want to risk any harm coming to her, so I kept her here where I could keep an eye on her. What are YOU doing here?" He tried to deflect suspicion onto Marluxia; who only scoffed and smiled at Vanitas. "Yes. Well...Xehanort has a new mission for you. Me and Larxene will be accompanying you. Tie up any loose ends here and we'll be on our way." Vanitas raises an eyebrow. "What about the Princess?" They both look over to her playing with the one of the Unversed like a puppy. Marluxia raises an eyebrow at Vanitas. "...When did you grow a heart? Just find a place to hide her until we get back."

Vanitas puts his finger in Marluxia's face. "I don't wanna hear about 'growing hearts' from someone like you." They both let a slight chuckle out as Vanitas snaps his fingers to get Boo's attention. "Boo! Come here." She dashes over to him as he kneels down to her level. "You go with him. Be a good girl." She nods reluctantly as he nudges her over to a smug Marluxia; who picks her up. "What are you? Her father now?" Vanitas doesn't even turn to acknowledge him, but instead gives directions.

"Take her to Arendelle. You know where Elsa's castle of ice is, right? Have Elsa look after her there. If she asks, just tell it's for 'training' from Master Vanitas." He pats Boo's head as he heads out, but Boo reaches out to him. "Big brother!" Marluxia's smile disappears as Vanitas leaves the room before he Marluxia can come up with something to say. He takes a moment to look Boo in the eyes and reminds himself. "Big brother, huh? I wonder..." He stuffed the thought before it had any room to grow and went through the corridor of darkness.

As Vanitas moved through the factory incognito, he made his way to the scare training room where Boo's door was being kept in secret. "Huh. So they rebuilt the door from the scraps." He had already disposed of Randall and sent all the canisters to the desired location for storage. All the Unversed had more or less been removed from the world. He pondered what sort of 'loose ends' could be left to tie up. As he observed the door, thinking of ways to keep them from sending Boo back through her door he realized that there was nothing he do to stop them.

He could lock the door with his Keyblade, but Sora could just undo it with his. He could destroy the door, but they could rebuild it again. Hide it? There's alway the chance that they could find it. But then it hit him. If he couldn't stop them from sending her back home….he would make it so there would be NO REASON for her to go home. He draws his Keyblade as he opens Boo's door to her bedroom and a dark and twisted aura envelopes his body. "...Let's go say hi to MOMMY and DADDY." He enters her room and slams the door shut behind him. From the outside, only faint and distant screams can be heard. "Who are you?! How did you get in here?! Where is our daughter?! AAAHH!" And not a word was uttered ever again.


End file.
